Celebrated worldwide, December 10 is Human Rights Day. Where was I then? Actually I missed the occasion and I was not able to draw an editorial cartoon for the international event on date.
I know that there were activities that human rights groups held for the local-based celebration.
Anyway, I tried to draw a cartoon for the HR Day as posted here. Replying to the Angel of Death symbolizing "Human Rights Violations or HRVs", Juan dela Cruz (who represents everyone of us) says: "Your scythe is very sharp (tulis, short for "matulis")..."
While we are dealing with the issue on HRVs, majority of the Filipino people have remained in grave poverty. This is the symbol that the shackle in my drawing wants to convey. In my opinion, the these two issues are very much inter-related to each other. Many victims of HRVs belong to the poorest of the poor who are powerless and do not have the influence that can at least protect themselves from abuses.
I know my drawing does not really represent how well-equipped the so-called private armies in Maguindanao Province after the Armed Forces of the Philippines was able to find high-powered arms and ammunition in the province which has been under Martial Law. The arms and ammunition were excavated in lots that allegedly belonged to the Ampatuans while some were found in the mansion of Datu Unsay Andal Ampatuan Jr. during a raid of the military.
Most of the arms and ammunition have labels that show they were/are coming from the Department of National Defense/AFP. Well, anyway, we hope that the efforts of the military, especially with the declaration of Martial Law there, will be able to crack down on the private armies not only in Maguindanao but also in other areas in the country.
The carnage of about 57 helpless persons in Maguindanao in the morning of November 23 (Monday) was one of the darkest periods in the political history of the Philippines. It was planned and was allegedly a brainchild of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr who turned-over himself to the authorities three days after the massacre.
The motive was said to be political with Andal Ampatuan Jr as the prime suspect. The Mangudadatus and Ampatuans were close allies in the past but those ties went sour when they allegedly fought over political power in Maguindanao. Some members of both clans have positions in the local and national government.
But this time, the tension was accordingly fueled anew when Buluan Vice Mayor Ishmael Mangudadatu was set to run against the gubernatorial aspirant Andal Ampatuan Jr. son of incumbent Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. in the coming May 2010 elections.
Instead of himself, Vice Mayor Mangudadatu sent his wife to lead a convoy going to Shariff Aguak for the filing of his certificate of candidacy. But about 100 armed stopped them along the way and carried out the carnage that included media practitioners who were invited to supposedly witness the Mangudadatus’s filing of COC. Earlier, rumors had it that the convoy would be attacked. Perhaps, the reason there were many media personalities that that they thought their presence would be a deterence.
But the attack was carried out by the beasts that according to the testimonies of the witnesses shot practically all victim women at their genitals. Whether the poor victims were raped, that remained to be investigated. There about 22 women victims.
The killers wanted to wipe out all possible witnesses so that they included motorists thathappened to catch up with the convoy. Also, a backhoe that belonged to the Municipality of Maguindanao was used to bury the victims to hide traces of the crime. But to no avail because there were those involved - bothered by their conscience - turned witnesses. Also, the authorities have already identified the operator of the backhoe who, according to witnesses, managed to escape before the soldiers arrived at the crime scene.
Tension has engulfed the area as many fear that a “rido” or clan war would ensue. One of the moves of the central government was to disarm all militiamen and took control over the region by putting soldiers in addition to their continuing investigation on the possible participation of some policemen, militiamen and military in the carnage.
So far, various sectors have joined the victims’ families in calling for justice. Swift justice. A multiple murder case has been filed against the suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. But many sectors are not contented with this development. For instance, Sen. Nene Pimentel has urged to also arrest Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. who, according to him as quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, "has a lot of explaining to do in the worst politically-related killing in the country."
It's a sad November when I learned that one of the pillars of Federal Mindanao and Philippines, for that matter, untimely passed away last Saturday, November 7, due to acute pneumonia. Rey Magno Teves was 65 years old.
I could not forget our first meeting when I was hired to work for the sustainable agriculture program of TACDRUP in 2003. It was here that I saw in the man the unwavering passion to serve his fellow Mindanaoans. RMT as we called him at the Technical Assistance Center for the Development of Rural and Urban Poor (TACDRUP), had been pushing for the concept and application of federalism not only for the war-ravaged Mindanao but the entire Philippines. That's the reason he was fondly called as "Mr. Pideral." He was a peace advocate and social development worker that has dedicated all his life for Mindanao development.
I believe that he had shared his life so much to the Mindanaoans in various ways as a consistent social activist, journalist, peace advocate and government servant. Once he served as urban poor representative to congress and to various government-based institutions.
I never called him "Sir Rey" as many of my colleagues would call him. Instead, I called him 'Nong Rey." "'Nong or Manong" which means older brother is commonly used to address older fellow. My manner of addressing him that was out of admiration for all the things he was doing for us Mindanaoans.
All Souls' Day is celebrated in this predominantly Roman Catholic country this coming November 1-2. During this time, many RC families would troop to the cemeteries to pay homage to their dead relatives/family members.
As in the past, the militant groups would not let the occasion to pass without their programs that would remind the government administration of the countless victims of human rights violations/abuses in the country. And justice to these victims has remained elusive to this day. As to why it has remained so, it is all because justice in this country is also dead long time ago. My opinion.
This is no time to point at anyone to blame for the disaster that some of our brothers in Luzon have terribly suffered when Typhoon Ondoy poured out its wrath recently. But I guess this is a time to ponder on what we had done in responding to the disaster. My heart went out to the victims – the helplessness of the victims who waited for the rescue operations to come but took too long in some areas. Sad to note that despite our being in the typhoon belt, we were ill-prepared, ill-equipped in many aspects of our so-called disaster-response. For instance, rubber boats were not enough. In fact, I read from some news that the local government units in the affected areas also admitted that they were caught by surprise. Anyway, as I said this is no time for blaming and I am not blaming anyone. But as similar incident had already occurred about 40 years ago, we could have prepared fully. Forty years to prepare for the worst to come would be more than enough. Definitely, Ondoy’s onslaught is a reminder that we cannot take everything for granted.
One sad reality in the country today is the occurrence of so-called extra-judicial killings. Most of these killings remained unresolved to this day. My editorial cartoon tries to capture this societal ill.
When I hear reports about people being killed helplessly, I could not help but wonder. For how long will it remain as it is today making our society a very dangerous place to live. Is this the kind of society we want our children to inherit?
Extra-judicial killings have no place in a civilized society. We laws and order to follow. I am hoping that the next set of elected government officials will be able to offer solutions to this problem and that justice will be attained for those who have hungered for it for so long. I am just hoping.
Peace efforts elsewhere in any conflict-troubled regions in the globe are always laudable. The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict in Southeast Asia (GPPAC) is one of the active peace groups that continuously supports for
local-based peace campaigns such as in the case of Mindanao ravaged by decades of armed conflict. Until now, the Philippine government has yet to forge a sustainable peace agreement with the two rebel groups Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) whose continued armed struggle has negatively impacted the lives of the people in the countrysides and caused war-related expenditures on the part of the government.
You will familiarize yourself with various peace efforts and updates on these activities by visiting one of their recently-launched sites themed as iblog for peace. The blog icon is linked to their site.
When the Cheaper Medicine Law was about to be implemented, there were controversies about some drug companies trying to stop it. I guess, Malacañang was also dragged into the issue. Finally, the law is now being implemented with the Department of Health urging all drugstores and outlets nationwide to comply.
In the local level, the DOH is active in their monitoring campaign. Although this is a welcome development, we still hope that a much better medicine law will be crafted. Remember that the saying "health is wealth" is not about raking in more profits at the expense of the poor segment of the society.
Sideline: So far, we have Sen. Noynoy Aquino III, Sen. Manny Villar, Defense Sec. Gilbert Teodoro, MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando and Bro. Eddie Villanueva who have signified to run for president come May 2010 elections. Other presidential aspirants who have to formally announce yet their political plans include Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, Sen. Jamby Madrigal, former president Erap Estrada and vice-president Noli De Castro who is so silent about his next political move. Will he join the bandwagon? Nobody knows yet but I believe Kabayan can also be a good presidential bet because of clean image.
So far there has been no formal declaration on the part of Fernando who lost recently to Teodoro who was overwhelmingly favored by the party executive committee of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD Party. He only answered "secret" to media when asked about his political party following his defeat to a party-member novice.
Who will win by 2010 will be gauged by three factors: political machinery, popularity and bloc-vote support. The presidential candidate that will have these factors will come out victorious. Forget about the issues, Pinoy electorate is not so much about national concerns and issues when voting. No wonder that we have Marcos loyalists or so-called Cory Magic even when there were controversial issues that remained unresolved to this day. Forget about the hype on younger generation which I believe would not make a difference at all unless we are in a tight electoral race of two contending candidates, this will surely have an impact.
Teodoro is not popular among the electorate or the Filipino people although he is currently secretary of the Department of the National Defense. But being backed by the administration is something else. Surely, the administration has all the machinery to use or tap. Aquino is enjoying overwhelming popularity as one factor that may catapult him to power. I think this is his advantage over other aspirants. The limited political machinery of the Liberal Party can still contribute to his advantage. Just maybe.
Meanwhile, here the moneyed Manny Villar. While he has no political party yet (?), Villar can possibly cope up with the "powerhouses" of Teodoro and Aquino, with his money. He is also favored in surveys before Aquino accepted the call for him to run.
In the case of bloc-voting, Eddie Villanueva may come nearer conceptually. But I don't think he can really get all the votes of his flock. And I don't think the bloc-voting Iglesia ni Cristo will support Bro. Villanueva even though he is called a "brother." That is, for sure, a big potential minus from Bro. Villanueva's votes.
Anyway, as each candidate in the opposition has advantages over rival aspirants, their number will dissipate the anti-administration votes thereby giving Teodoro a safer advantage. Now if he gets the support of INC, Teodor will have a reserved advantage. In fact, in an opposition marked with disunity, the INC's bloc votes really matter. But everyone will only know only whom the INC will support during the nth time.
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary.
The most common outlet for political cartoonists is the editorial page of the newspaper, not the dedicated comic section, although certain cartoons or comic strips have achieved crossover status.
Most editorial cartoons lack the type of explicitly partisan political opinion found on the rest of the editorial page, instead opting for humor that reflects the conventional wisdom of readers.Nevertheless, the presence of explicitly partisan, critical and satirical humor is growing in editorial cartoons as partisan opinion and argument continue to play a larger role in News Media as a whole. In recent years the internet has become an excellent means for distributing short format media, humor, and minority political opinions, leading to a large growth in the popularity of online alternative editorial cartoons. (from the Wikipedia)
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